2015...here we come!

Hello people!

I hope you have all enjoyed the festivities of Christmas and that you're ready for the New Year and all the promise that brings!

See you all on the other side! ;)

Siân

Merry Christmas...!

Hello!

I just wanted to pop in this morning to wish you all a very merry Christmas!

I hope you all have too much food, drink and family and enjoy every moment of it ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Siân

Image from www.deviantart.com

My memories...

Hello there!

I'm here again with another month of WOW! Embossing Powder challenge goodness and our new theme for the month is Memories.

I'm not a Scrapbooker or someone who really records events - although I probably should!  When presented with this theme I thought about what it meant to me.  

Myself and my enduring Other Half have been together 6 years this month and I don't know about you, but anniversaries always make me think of when it all began...we have many memories of when we met and all the things we have done together since and so my card for this month pays homage to my DOH :)  I don't normally share particularly personal things on here, so make the most of it now!

OK, boring bit over!  Here's my card...

This is the card that I am going to give to my DOH on our anniversary - it's about as masculine as I could muster for a soppy card!  He'll understand!!  :)

I started by stamping the Vintage Wallpaper stamp in Versamark and then added Black Glint embossing glitter to the majority of the image.  Once I'd shaken off the excess, I added Calypso embossing glitter to 'catch' on any areas that weren't already covered by the black powder.  I wanted it to be mostly black with random areas of turquoise.  The Black Glint and Calypso powders compliment each other very nicely as the Black Glint has a subtle sparkle, one might even say 'glint'! and the Calypso powder has a much brighter sparkle.  These guys are fast becoming my favourite powders - and let me tell you, they have some tough competition within the WOW! family! 

I stamped the words 'I love you' from the Express Yourself stamp set and embossed them in Metallic Silver. A little bit of mounting and embellishing later and voila!

I just hope he likes it and that it's not too girly for him!  ;)  

There are some lovely entries in the gallery already - I'm looking forward to seeing plenty more - I hope you can join us.  I can't wait to see how everyone interprets this theme as it has such scope :)

Thanks again for stopping by ;)

Supplies
Card:       Paper Mill Direct - White Super Smooth, Teal. Pale Turquoise
Stamps:  Vintage Wallpaper Background Stamp, Express Yourself Stamp Set
Ink:         Versamark
Other:     WOW! Embossing Powders - Black Glint Embossing Glitter, Calypso Embossing Glitter;
                    Metallic Silver; pearls

Blog Hop Fun!!...

Hello, hello!

Today is a special day because it is the day that the WOW! Embossing Design Team join up with the Ruby Rock-It guys for a fabulous blog hop!

For anyone who is participating on the hop, you should have arrived here from Beckie's blog.  If not, then I certainly urge you to jump back to the beginning so you don't miss anyone out along the way!  There are beauties and prizes galore, so you won't want to miss out on any of the blogs!

All you need to do to be eligible for our prizes is to leave a comment on each designer's blog and then go back to our blog letting us know you have done so!  Comments will be closing on Friday 21st November at 23:59 PST.  N.B. - You may want to leave a note on both the WOW! and the Ruby Rock-It blogs to say you've been round to see us all as I believe that the prizes below are two separate prizes to be given away - I wouldn't want you guys missing out on the chance to win both!!  ;)

The prizes are...

WOW! Embossing Powder;

and Ruby Rock-It are giving this away...

Pretty cool wouldn't you agree?!!!

We had the pleasure of creating a project using our wonderful WOW! products alongside the beautiful Ruby Rock-It products.  Is anyone surprised that I made a card!?...

For this card I used the papers and twine from the Ruby Rock-It Country Cookin collection.  There are a brilliant mix of rustic style papers of all different kinds from chalkboard tags to these great patterns, which are the papers that particularly caught my eye.  Again...anyone who 'knows' me will not be surprised that these are the papers I was immediately drawn to!

To make this card I die cut the circle from a piece of kraft card and then heat embossed WOW's Sexi-Hexi background stamp using the amazing Clear Matt Dull powder.  I love this powder as when you heat it, it just seems like your average clear embossing powder, but as it cools you can actually watch the finish change from glossy to matte - maybe I'm too easily pleased, but I think it's great!

I placed the striped pattern paper directly onto the card front and adhered the kraft mat on top using foam adhesive to give a little dimension.  The sentiment panel was mounted on a gorgeous piece of the red plaid paper from the collection. The colours of all the papers tie together so well.  I wrapped a small amount of the Ruby Rock-It twine around the kraft card and my card was complete!

I'm not someone who uses patterned papers very often, but I have to admit that this collection was very inspiring and complemented the WOW! stamps and powders perfectly!

Now, you need to get yourselves over to Kaka's blog to find some more treasures there!

Thank you so much for stopping by, and good luck to you all for the prize draw!

Supplies
WOW! - Sexi Hexi background stamp; Clear Matt Dull embossing powder
Ruby Rock-It - Country Cookin collection - papers and twine

Anything goes...

Hello my lovelies!

I don't know if it's the same for you, but all of my friends seem to have birthdays in September/October/November - myself included - which means I should be ready for it each year, but invariably I'm not!  So I've been busy making birthday cards galore!!  This, at a time when I should be making a large dent in the Christmas card making list - oh well!

Here is one of the cards I've made recently;

It's a super simple card, but I quite like it!  A bit of emboss resist and a rainbow, loads of white space and a slightly sparkly sentiment - job done!

I have a leftover strip of the honeycomb rainbow - I'll have to put that to good use on something else soon :)

I did make this card for two challenges - one being STAMPlorations - Anything Goes, and the other was CAS(E)This Sketch #98, but as per usual, I missed the deadline!  The card was made, I just did not get the time for the photographs, posting etc...!  I enjoyed making it though, which is the whole reason we do this, right?!

This is just a short post today, maybe I'll get a chance to play along AND post some cards for challenges that are still live!!

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend guys, thanks as always for taking the time to stop by ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct- White Super Smooth
Stamps:  WOW! - Sexi-Hexi; STAMPlorations - Celebrate
Ink:         VersaMark; Papermania - Red, Yellow; Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Broken China, Dusty
                     Concord; VersaColor - Green, Old Rose
Other:     WOW! - Black Glint Embossing Glitter, Bright White Opaque Super Fine Embossing Powder 

WOW! Mixed media - CAS Style...

Hello there!

How is everyone?  It's the weekend - yay!  I hope you all have wonderful plans and find a little time for crafting too :)

It is Mixed Media month over at WOW! Embossing Powder.  

Now, I'm not going to lie, the thought of mixed media fills me with fear so this was a true challenge!  The other girls on the team are mixed media queens and we all know I'm here for the CAS contribution!

I was surprised however, at how easily it all came together once I got going - so anyone else out there who thinks they can't 'do' the whole mixed media thing, give it a go, you may well surprise yourself :)

On to my card...

I know what you're thinking...not as 'mixed' as the other projects from the other Design Team members...I did warn you I was the CAS element of the team  :)

I started by blending the inks onto white cardstock and then attacked it with splashes of water which lifted the ink nicely.  Then I stamped the floral stamp from WOW!'s Collage stamp set along the bottom, trying not to be too precise about it as I wanted there to be some 'misses'.

Then I applied a strip of scrim.  I live in a builders household - myself and my other half have always worked in the construction industry, so there are always random building materials lying around my house!  I found this roll of plastering scrim a few months ago and until now I've only used it as a stencil and a stamp, I hadn't thought to actually apply it to my cards - there's a first time for everything!  I love to re-purpose and I'm pleased with how this looks.

I then applied embossing ink to the die cut words and very lightly sprinkled some Platinum Super Fine embossing powder over them so that the powder only stuck to a small, random portion of the wording.  I covered the rest with Black Glint embossing glitter which has created a nice mix of the two colours and finishes.

The die cut butterfly was heat embossed using Calypso embossing glitter and the body was again embossed using Black Glint embossing glitter.

So, there you have it - mixed media a la CAS style!

I hope you all find time to join us for our challenge and you enjoy the rest of the teams' projects!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Ta ta for now ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White Super Smooth
Stamps: Collage Stamp Set
Ink:        Versamark, Versafine - Onyx; Distrees Inks - Broken China, Crushed Olive
Other:    WOW! - Black Glint Embossing Glitter, Calypso Embossing Glitter, Platinum Super Fine Embossing
                  Powder; Scrim tape; Britannia Dies - Happy Word Set, Birthday Word Set

Alternative Christmas colours...

Hello boys and girls!

The bonus of having some time off is that I'm not rushing around quite as much as usual - still plenty to do though!  But, it means I have had time to blog the cards that I have made.  Do you find that you manage to scrape together enough time to make a card, but the time to take the photographs, edit them, upload them and attempt to write something witty in a post is just a feat to far?!  That's where I'm at!

Enough yabbering - the card!

I made this card for the STAMPlorations bi-weekly sketch #21 - they're now on sketch #22...maybe I'll catch up at some point?!!  The card does, however, still qualify for the STAMPlorations monthly challenge - I had an inkling that I would miss the sketch deadline so I made sure it was OK for both challenges!!  ;)  The monthly challenge is Stamps & Embossing' - it was like it was made for me!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE embossing!  ;)

Here's the card...

I wish I had noticed before...but I seem to have taken this photograph at a funny angle which makes the grey panel look awfully askew - I promise you it isn't!  I wouldn't be able to sleep if it was even slightly out, trust me on that one - I am Queen OCD when it comes to stuff like that!

Anyway, glossing over that - here's my card.  I am loving the combination of pink, silver, sparkle and grey for a Christmas card...I never thought I'd say that.  I think this may be a theme for this year...?  Don't quote me on it though!  The snowflakes are stamped in a combination of WOW! Metallic Silver Super Fine and WOW! Sparkling Snow which is a white embossing powder with a really fine and beautiful glitter in - it's subtle and gorgeous!  I was proud that I was able to use my STAMPlorations 'Celebrate' stamp for something other than a birthday card...let's face it, Christmas is a time for celebration!

There is a smidgen of dry embossing too - I don't know how well you can see it in the photograph but I used my scoreboard to emboss some lines along the bottom of the grey panel.  I only very recently acquired my scoreboard, I will have to take some time to explore the line embossing possibilities!  Wow, I sound really exciting don't I!!?  Ha ha!  :)

Thanks for stopping by, I'm hoping to get a few more posts underway over the next week ;)

I have also just remembered that this card would also qualify for STAMPloration's 'Anything Goes' challenge - whoop whoop!  In it goes :)

Supplies

Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White Super Smooth, Dark Grey, Raspberry Pink

Stamps: STAMPlorations - Celebrate; DoCrafts - Bellissima Christmas

Ink:        Versamark

Other:    WOW! - Metallic Silver Super Fine, Sparkling Snow, Fluorescent Tickled Pink e/p

Blog Hop Fun!!...

Hello, hello!!

Over at WOW! Embossing Powder this week we have a special event going on - a collaboration with 3L Scrapbook Adhesives.  Today is Day 2 - if you missed yesterday then you need to get over there and check out the talent!  Don't forget to pop back in each day this week to see all of the DT's projects :)

Here are my cards using a combination of 3L's awesome adhesives and WOW!'s wonderful powders - what a match...made in heaven!

For this first card I embossed the background using the Vintage Wallpaper stamp and Metallic Gold Rich powder. I then die cut the trefoil pieces for the 3L 3D Foam Creative Sheets and used Metallic Gold Rich and Metallic Copper powders to create the central embellishment.  It gives a really lovely effect - it's so tactile and full of texture - I don't know why I hadn't tried it sooner!

Here's a wee close up...

I also made this second card...

I don't think I will ever need to buy embellishments again!!  I was really pleased with how well the 3L Dodz took the heat embossing.  I have experimented with opaque and the more translucent powders - they both give a fantastic finish.  The opaque powders create a more matt finish, akin to enamel dots, whereas the translucent powders give a higher shine and you can still see through the dots partly, like glass beads - awesome!

ETA - Completely forgot to add that this card was made based on the CAS(E) This Sketch sketch!  Doh!  Well, I've remembered now, better late than never!  (seems to be a recurring theme lately?!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  ;)

Supplies - Card One

3L Adhesives - 3D Creative Foam Sheet

WOW! - Vintage Wallpaper Stamp

WOW! - Express Yourself Stamps

WOW! - Metallic Rich Gold Powder

WOW! - Metallic Copper Powder

Spellbinders - Fleur-De-Lis Motifs, Parisian Motifs

Card - Paper Mill direct - White Super Smooth, Teal, Pale Turquoise

Ink - Versamark

Supplies - Card Two

3L Adhesives - Dodz

WOW! - Primary Apple Red Powder

WOW! - Opaque Primary Mandarin Powder

WOW! - Opaque Primary Sunny Yellow Powder

WOW! - Fluorescent Green Powder

WOW! - Opaque Pastel Blue Powder

WOW! - Earthtone Grape Powder 

Spellbinders - Classic Edges Two, Classic Decorative Inserts Three

Ink - Windsor & Newton - Black

Better late than never!...

Hey!!

OK, confession - I posted this on the WOW! Embossing Powder blog on the 8th October, but life has been so crazy mental that I haven't managed to get it onto my own blog until now - I know, slap on the wrist for me!

I am currently trying to arrange my own birthday celebrations (I think DOH should probably be doing it, but he's super busy too!) and work and help DOH with his business as that has exploded just recently - which is a good thing, but a time consuming one!  These are, I know, rubbish excuses, but that's just the way it is - sorry guys!  I have some time off so I am planning on visiting all my dear neglected blogging friends over the next week ;)

OK, onto the bit we're all interested in - cards!

The challenge this month is 'One Stamp, Different Ways'.  I don't know about you, but I can get stuck in a rut with my stamps - I seem to use them for the same thing all the time - background stamps for backgrounds etc.  I think this is a good one to combine with Darnell's ongoing mission to use NBUS! (Never Before Used Schtuff!)

I've used one of my favourite WOW! stamps - De-Vine.  I LOVE this stamp :)

My first card uses the stamp as a background;

I embossed the De-Vine stamp using Vintage Peacock powder on a pale turquoise card and attached this to the card base. I then cut openings in the white top layer and adhered it to the card base with foam adhesive to add a little dimension and a shadow gap between the embossing and the card front.  The sentiment was then embossed in Purple Orchid on tracing paper and mounted on lilac card.

My second card uses the emboss resist technique - one of my favourites!

For this card I embossed the De-Vine stamp in Bright White Opaque Super Fine powder and then cut out the banners.  Once I had blended the inks onto the banners, I sewed them onto the card front.  Next, I embossed the sentiments from the Collage stamp set in Black Glint embossing glitter.

My third card is a touch more feminine...for me anyway!

I embossed the De-Vine stamp in Calypso embossing glitter and mounted it onto a pale turquoise mat.  The butterfly was embossed onto tracing paper in Vintage Romance embossing glitter, which is gorgeously subtle but sparkly!  The sentiment, from the Express Yourself stamp set is embossed in Fluorescent Tickled Pink powder.

Given the time, I could've kept going on and on with the De-Vine stamp, it's super versatile! 

I hope you guys find the time to join us with this challenge - it may be the perfect opportunity to make the most of your WOW! stamps or show some love to those stamps that haven't seen the light of day for a while?!  Maybe grab some of your older stamps and see if you can't breathe a new lease of life into them - we look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Thanks so much for dropping in :)

WOW! Supplies
Stamps:    De-Vine Background Stamp
                Collage Stamp Set
                Express Yourself Stamp Set

Powders:  Black Glint Embossing Glitter
                Bright White Opaque Super Fine
                Primary Purple Orchid
                Calypso Embossing Glitter
                Vintage Peacock Embossing Glitter
                Vintage Romance Embossing Glitter
                Fluorescent Tickled Pink

Favourite things...

Hello guys!

How is everyone?  Well I hope :)

I'm back to share my sample for this months' WOW! challenge - 'My Favourite'.  For this challenge I have gone with my favourite technique and the one that got me hooked on heat embossing - Emboss Resist.

How cool is that graphic?!!  Love it!

Moving on...this technique isn't anything fancy or difficult, but I think that''s why I love it!  You don't need any special tools (beyond a heat gun) and you can create some lovely effects.

Here is my card...

As you can see, this card is pretty simple but I love the firey colours against the stark white background - it makes me happy!  I heat embossed the De-Vine background stamp in Opaque Bright White Super Fine powder and then grabbed my inks and got smudging!

Once I'd finished applying the inks, I took a dry tissue and 'polished' the image.  This removes any/all of the excess ink from the embossing powder, allowing the bright white to shine through and accentuate the contrast.

The sentiments were also embossed in Opaque Bright White Super Fine powder on the black card - I love the stark contrast and how true the white of this powder is - hands down my favourite white embossing powder - EVER.

Each month WOW! showcase one powder and one stamp set - this month the powder is Calypso Embossing Glitter and the stamp is the De-Vine background stamp.  I have a made a card for you guys using both if these - this was fun to make!!

For this card, first I die cut the circular 'windows' from the card front.  I then masked the edges of the card base to ensure that I was left with a white margin around the edge before I stamped the De-Vine background onto it and used the Calypso Embossing Glitter to emboss it.

The sentiments from the Collage stamp set were then embossed using the Earthtone Blueberry powder which has a lovely matt finish.  This, I thought, was a great contrast to the super sparkly Calypso glitter.

Although it's mostly hidden in this photograph - my fault, sorry! - the base of the butterfly has the De-Vine pattern embossed in Metallic Silver Super Fine to give a little interest to him as he hides under his vellum counterpart ;)

Thank you for all those who stayed with me throughout this longer-than-usual post - you're all troopers!  Now grab your stamps and embossing powders and get on and create something that showcases your favourite - whatever that may be!  I hope to see you in the gallery on the WOW! blog :) 

See you next time!  :)

Supplies

Card:       Paper Mill Direct - White Super Smooth, Black; Vellum
Stamps:  WOW! - De-Vine, Collage
Ink:         Versamark; Distress Ink - Fired Brick, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade
Powders: Opaque Bright White (S/F), Calypso Embossing Glitter, Earthone Blueberry, Metallic Silver (S/F)
Other:      Rhinestones

Wedding van...!

Hey!

Twice in one week - would you believe it?!!!

On Saturday my friend's brother got married, so OBVIOUSLY she needed a special card for the occasion :)  The colour scheme for the wedding was bright pink and orange and all the girls turned up in a VW Camper van - how cool is that?!!  Has anyone guessed where this card is going yet?  ;)

Here it is...

As you can see, it's the back of the van, not the front!  It may seem ridiculous, but I made this van THREE times!  Third time lucky and all that :)  

This is a slightly larger card than usual - 200mm x 200mm - so I had to make a box for it to go in...

My friend really liked this card, I was so pleased - and apparently the Bride and Groom loved it too which I was super pleased about!  :)

Thanks for stopping by ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White Linen, Raspberry Pink, Citrus Orange, Baby Pink, Black, Silver Matt
Stamps: Verve - Bloom & Grow; Waltzingmouse Stamps - Big Day Additions
Ink:        VersaColor - Green; VersaMark
Other:    WOW! - Ebony e/p; Rhinestones; Spellbinders - Anemone Flower Topper

All that glitters...

Hey people!

How are you?  I hope you've all had a great weekend - I'm just relaxing now psyching myself up for work tomorrow.

I've had a chance to make some cards - woohoo!  This is me trying to be organised this year as I can just see things getting busier and busier as the year goes on...a Christmas card!  I'm sorry to mention the word so early, but I know you all know how it is - in card making terms it's only just around the corner hey?!  :)

I was inspired by the current Addicted to CAS challenge where the code word is 'Gold'.  That just screamed Christmas to me :)

Here it is...

I'm not going to lie...I may have bought some new bits!  ;)  Waltzingmouse Stamps had a sale on Christmas stamps and I absolutely LOVE Clare's Christmas designs...a little treat to myself, but don't tell anyone!  They work so well alone, it didn't require me to do anything which is always good ;)

There's not really a great deal I can say about this card - the stamps did the work, I just embossed it all in gold - yum!  All that's left to do is to pop on over to Addicted To CAS and link this bad boy up!

                                                         

Thank you so much for stopping by and sticking with me and my sporadic posting - love you guys!  ;)

Supplies
Card:     Paper Mill Direct - Black, Super Smooth White
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Seasonal Flourish, Ornate Ornaments
Ink:        Versamark
Other:    WOW! - Metallic Gold Rich e/p; pearls